SARAH VAUGHAN CENTENNIAL

Her jazz chops were unparallelled, and her vocal command would do an opera singer proud: ‘The Devine One’, Sarah Vaughan, was one of the finest vocalists the world has ever witnessed. This year, a century after her birth, her name remains synonymous with vocal distinction, as the annual Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition held in Newark, N.J. – her city of birth – testifies. In celebration of Sassy’s100th birth year anniversary, Stingray DJAZZ dedicates the evening of Sunday, October 6 to the matchless singer. Firstly, at 21:00, Ms. Vaughan wraps her sultry voice around jazz standards and popular showtunes, recorded over the course of three different concerts – two from her 1958 European tour in Sweden and Holland, and once again in Sweden in 1964. Following these performances, Stingray DJAZZ presents the documentary “Sarah Vaughan: The Divine One”, which recounts her career from her beginnings at the Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey, to her debut at the Apollo Theater and her pre-eminence in nightclubs, concert halls and jazz festivals around the world. Colleagues, contemporaries and relatives – including Billy Eckstine, Roy Haynes, Joe Williams, Marty Paich, George Gaffney, Sarah's mother Ada, and her daughter Paris – offer their first-hand perspectives.